As a huge relief operation continues in northern China for survivors of this weekend's earthquake, tens of thousands of people have spent a third night in hastily built shelters in freezing conditions.

The quake, the worst in the region for several years, killed about fifty people and left 11,000 injured.

Medical teams and emergency supplies of tents, overcoats and food have been sent to the region, more than 200 kilometres north-west of Beijing.

Some 44,000 people are now believed to be homeless. Temperatures on Saturday night fell below -20 C.

More than 11,000 were injured

Local hospitals have been deluged with patients, as the number of casualties continues to rise.

Convoys of trucks carrying soldiers and supplies streamed into the devastated Zhangbei county, where poor farmers spent last night on makeshift straw beds after Saturday's earthquake flattened their mud and brick homes, officials said.

The Chinese army set up roadblocks about 40 km (25 miles) from the earthquake zone, allowing local traffic through but blocking foreigners' access and threatening to confiscate Western reporters' film and videos.

Fear of aftershocks

Despite the sub-zero temperatures, many residents have been ordered not to sleep inside their houses because of the danger of aftershocks.

More than 100 aftershocks followed the quake

One wheat farmer in Xishungou village, 30 km (18 miles) south of the epicentre, said he and his wife and son spent one night in a haystack in fear that aftershocks would bring their cracked mud house down on them.

"It was so cold that we could not fall asleep all night and at dawn we had to run around the village to stay warm," said Chen Yi.

More than 100 aftershocks were reported after the quake, and precautions are even reported to have been stepped up in the capital, Beijing.

Agricultural area affected

The earthquake, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, devastated the county of Zhangbei, and neighbouring Shangyi county in agricultural Hebei province.

The area near the disaster region was described by observers as a barren moonscape, with harsh winds blowing and patches of frozen snow on small wheat and corn fields.

Zhangbei and Shangyi are just north of the Great Wall, which runs the entire length of northern China and was built centuries ago to keep out invaders.

Family gatherings

The quake struck just before the Lunar New Year, which falls this year on January 28, adding to the misery of victims during the most important festival of the calendar when homes are being readied for family gatherings.

It is being described as the worst quake to hit northern China since 1976, when more than 200,000 people were killed in the Tangshan area, east of Beijing.

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